The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain

Record summary

Fernando Cervantes’s study of diabolism in New Spain examines how Spanish Catholic categories of the Devil, witchcraft and demonic pact were applied, contested and transformed in colonial Mexico. It provides a boundary-crossing lead because alleged traffic between human society and infernal realms was used to interpret Indigenous ritual, illness and religious difference. The book is important precisely because it documents accusation and cultural translation, not confirmed demonic activity. Researchers should distinguish inquisitorial records, theological polemic, Indigenous testimony and the historian’s reconstruction.